A Shakarian Christmas
by vakariangal
Summary: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a Turian? Nah! Follow the adventures of Selena and Garrus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Possibilties of the day after Christmas as well.


A Shakarian Christmas Chapter 1~ Christmas Eve

"Shepard, is this really necessary?" Garrus asked as Selena pulled a Santa hat onto his head.

"Yes! It's part of Christmas." Selena said, smiling.

"That brings us to my next question. What's Christmas?" Garrus asked.

Selena' jaw about hit the floor. "What's Christmas?"

Garrus shook his head. "That's what I asked, yes." he said, taking the Santa hat off of his head.

"Christmas is about cheer, family, friends, love and peace. Christmas is about presents under a tree and Santa hats and bows. But most of all, it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus. I may not look like it, nor act like it, but I pray to God everyday. I pray to him before a battle, and many other times. I even pray before I eat. Although it may be under my breath. God is top on my list...but you're number 2." Selena said as she kissed his nose and ran her hand along his left mandible.

"So, that's Christmas? It sounds kinda fun."

Selena smiled at him. "It is. Just don't turn into a Scrooge."

Garrus looked at Selena confused. "A Scrooge?"

"Oh sorry. I forgot, you don't know what that is. Scrooge. Ebenezer Scooge to be exact. He's a character from this book." She held up A Christmas Carol. "You'll just have to read it. It's got a lesson in it, but it's also a great book." She laid the book back down on the table and walked over to their tree to put another ornament up.

"We need another ornament?" Garrus teased. He knew he could get under her skin with that, and he'd be the first to admit that he loved it.

"Yes, yes we do. You know what I tell people who question my decisions." She watched him, knowing that he'd tell her.

"Anyone that disagrees with your decisions will be punched, or possibly killed. Just depends on the day you're having." She stood up on her tip toes and patted him on the top of the head.

"Exactly! Good boy." She smiled and walked of to get the garland. They had guests coming over, and she had to get things ready. She was just stringing the silver garland on the tree when they heard a knock on the door.

"We're not expecting any guests for a few hours. Who's that?" Selena asked, curiously. She started to walk towards the door when Garrus held his hand up.

"I'll get it. You're busy." She smiled at him as he walked off. Over joyed that she could find someone as selfless as him.

He opened the door to a smaller woman with long dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "Umm, Lena? One of your friends?" He motioned from the woman standing in their doorway to Selena.

"SHELBY!" Selena yelled as she ran to her and hugged her. "Garrus, this is my 'sister from another mister', Shelby Shepard."

"So, you both have the same last name and she has N7 dog tags around her neck too. That doesn't seem weird to you?" Garrus asked.

Selena looked at Shelby, both of them shaking their heads. "No. Not at all." Selena led Shelby into the living romm where ornament boxes were strung everywhere and garland was draped over the couch. "Sorry for the mess. We have guests coming in a few hours and we wound up having to finish up decorations last minute. Umm..." Selena trailed off as she made a spot for Shelby to sit. "Here, sit down and make yourself at home."

"Selena, can I be honest with you?"

"Of course. Is something wrong?" Selena asked, her brow creasing with worry.

"Oh no. You just...seem so much happier than usual. Not that that's a bad thing. It's a good thing, a wonderful thing in fact. I just love seeing you this way. It makes me happy!" Shelby said, standing to hug Selena.

"It's Christmas time, I'm always happy this time of year. Now when I was a kid, that was a different story. But lets not get to that now. It's decoration time!" Shelby helped hang a few more ornaments and help with some garland.

"So, how's Thane doing? I hear you two got married? I'm really sorry we couldn't make it."

"Oh, don't worry yourself over it. He's doing great. Caring as always. I tried to get him to come with me, but his exact words were, "At this hour I do not want to disturb them. But if you wish to go, go on ahead. I will be here when you return.'"

"He's such a lover! But it's only 6 oclock. Does he think that's late?"

"Oh hunny, you don't know the rest of it!" Shelby said, her voice full of humor.

"Ohh, it's been too long since we've seen each other. I mised you." Selena admitted.

As the girls were talking, Garrus looked over at them to be sure they weren't paying attention and decided to go out and get Selena' special present now. He knew it would be the perfect time. He put his coat on and swiftly made it out the door. He just hoped they didn't need him in the matter of a few minutes. 'Oh well.' He thought. 'They can ping me if they really need me,' He continued down the street 'til he found the building he was looking for. He was going to make this the best Christmas ever.

Back at the house, Shelby and Selena were still catching up on the current events in their lives. At this point they had both sat down and were talking. The decorations were almost done, so Selena was glad to take a break.

"I got a new tattoo for Garrus. I've been hiding it from him. Do you know how hard it is to hide a tattoo from your husband? Especially this one." Selena turned around and pulled her shirt over her head enough to expose her lower back. Most of her lower back had been taken up with the Archangel sign, followed by their wedding date and an N7 symbol. "Do you think he'll like it?"

"I think he'll love it!"

Selena smiled. "Thanks, love."

"Pardon?" Shelby asked.

"I said, thanks, love. When I'm in the mood, I can be nice and civilized. Bet you never thought that, eh?"

"Not really. I like this you." Shelby admitted.

"Don't expect to see her often. As soon as the Christmas mood is gone, I'll be back to my old self."

"Should I be worried?" Shelby asked, humor in her voice.

"Possibly. Only if you do something wrong." She laughed and stood to finish the few decorations that were left. "Garrus?" Selena called. "Hmm, he must have stepped out for air or something." She said, grabbing the star for the top of the tree.

Meanwhile, Garrus walked through the building, looking for the exact one Selena had picked out. He came upon it and quickly went back to the owner of the place to tell him, this was the one. Selena was going to be so surprised.

Shelby turned to look at Selena. "Where's Shasta?" Shelby asked, concerned.

Selena sighed. "I've had her for a long time. She was so crippled with arthritis that we had to put her down. She was much older than a dog her size usually gets. She was pushing 17."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to have brought it up. I'm sorry for your loss."

Selena held back the tears that threatned to roll down her cheeks. "I'll be okay. Garrus and I had looked at a dog a few days ago at the local shelter. We wanted to adopt a new dog. It was starting to get way too quiet around here without her. We just weren't sure, so we didn't get her. But we do know which one we want. She's a black labrador puppy. As you can tell, I'm into the larger breed dogs. Garrus thankfully liked her. Hopefully, we can go pick her up tomorrow. Our own personal Christmas gift." Selena smiled just thinking about it.

Garrus had gotten what he wanted and was headed for home. The gift was wrapped there, all he had to do was hide it from Selena til later. That was going to be the hard part. This wasn't exactly a small present. He just couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she saw her present.

Selena finished all the decorations, but now had something else to deal with. The mess. Shelby offered to help, which Selena happily took and they cleaned up the ornament boxes, garland and miscellaneous other things laying around the room. "Since Garrus up and dissapeared, I'm glad you're here. I really need the help cleaning up. Otherwise I'd still be here cleaning when people get here." Selena chuckled and picked up the last ornament box and stray strand of garland. "Thanks so much for your help," Selena thanked Shelby again.

"No problem! I'm always here for help, or anything else you need for that matter."

"I know. I feel bad that I haven't gotten in touch with you in so long."

"Don't feel bad. I could've gotten in touch with you, and I didn't."

"We can both mutually feel bad!" Selena excalimed as they laughed and both about stumbled to the ground. They heard the door open and she saw Garrus come in. Unsuccesfully hiding what he was carrying.

"Whatcha got Garrus?" She heard him mutter 'crap!' under his breath. She knew now for sure that he was hiding something. She decided to give up now though. 'After all, it's Christmas Eve. Maybe it's a present.' She thought.

There was a knock on the door followed by a loud 'thud!' on the door. Selena ran and opened the door. Zaeed being the first to enter. His normal Scrooge personality not failing to come through his happy facade. Or maybe he actually was happy for once, nah! She let the rest of the crew in. Greeting them as they passed. "Joker, Edi, Grunt, James." She continued down the list 'til everyone had come in. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Shelby Shepard. My 'sister from another mister'."

The room was filled with a bunch of 'hi's' and 'hello's'. Zaeed just grumbled and crossed his arms. "Who's ready to have some fun?" Selena asked as she broke open a bottle of brandy.


End file.
